City of Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program Fund with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment

City of Los Angeles, Department
of Cultural Affairs

City National Bank

Employees Community Fund of Boeing California

Los Angeles County Arts Commission

National Endowment for the Arts

Norris Foundation

Ralph Parsons Foundation

Stern Memorial Trust

Collaborators

Arts for All

Centennial Plaza Park

Children’s Creative Project

Community Arts Resources (CARS)

Los Angeles County MTA—Go Metro

Los Angeles Music Center

Education Division

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Los Angeles Unified School District, Arts Education Branch

North Figueroa Association

Old LA Farmers Market

Orange County

Performing Arts Center

Performances to Grow On

Festival Plaza de la Raza

Community Partners

Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council (HHPNC)

North Figueroa Association

Councilmember

Ed P. Reyes, District 1

Councilmember

Jose Huizar, District 14

Seasons Greetings!

Dear Friends,

In our 2008-09 season, We Tell Stories

taught 883
student workshops and professional development sessions

performed 273 shows
in schools, libraries, museums, and festivals throughout Southern
California

reached nearly 80,000 children, teachers, and families during one of the most challenging times in our 28-year history.

Our staff may be downsized, but our company of professional teaching artists and performers are determined to
continue our mission of igniting children's creativity and nurturing their love of reading.

In our current 2009 - 2010 season, We Tell Stories

is commissioned by the Los
Angeles Public Library to create a 45-minute, family-friendly
theatre piece based on Wagner’s opera “Das Rheingold”as part of the Los Angeles Ring Festival

has received a grant from the National Endowment
for the Arts to support an intensive theatre/residency to 4
low-income schools in Los Angeles

has been invited,along with Actors'
Gang and Center Theatre Group, to form the new Culver City Theatre
Collaborative to provide sequential theatre arts education to Culver City
schools.

We still need your
support.

The majority of schools
have little or no money

for arts programs.

If you share our belief that the arts are an essential
part of a child’s education, I hope you will give serious consideration to
making a generous gift to help us continue our work.

A gift of $100 brings a master teaching
artist into a classroom.

A gift of $250 or more supports an assembly
performance.

At this critical time, your gift in any amount has a very real impact on the students we serve.

The We Tell Stories Board of Directors, Staff, and Company are truly grateful for
all your support.

Sincerely,

Diana Tanaka

Artistic Director

PS Your gift of $100 really does help keep
the arts alive in the classrooms!

Due to the ongoing economic crisis facing us all, WTS was forced to layoff our Administrative Assistant extraordinaire, Jamie Hebert.Jamie started working for us in February of 2008 and quickly became an indispensable member of the WTS family. In addition to supporting all aspects of programming and administration, Jamie was the co-producer of the 2009 Haunted Harvest Storytelling Festival, our most successful festival to date. Jamie is also a talented musician, actor, dancer, and costume designer.

Betsy Oltmann, our fabulous Development Director, and her husband moved to the beautiful city of San Luis Obsipo this fall. Betsy was instrumental in our very successful Haunted Harvest Fundraiser in 2008, our pledge campaign of 2009, and numerous government and foundation grants. We are grateful to her not only for her knowledge in all aspects of development, but also for her talent as a photographer and graphic artist.

On August 1, 2009, we lost a beloved member of our We Tell Stories family. Kate Turner passed away after a long illness. Kate's family includes her son Garry, an emergency room doctor, her daughter Stacy, WTS' Associate Artistic Director, and her husband William, President of WTS Board of Directors. A retired English teacher and high school guidance counselor, Kate was an avid supporter of We Tell Stories for many years. All of the We Tell Stories members send the Turners our deepest sympathy.

We Tell Storiescompletes its 14-show residency at the Culver City Julian Dixon Library with a free holiday prerformance designed especially for the library.Celebrate the December
holidays ofKwanzaa,Chanukah,and Christmaswith 3 charming stories that will
entertain, educate, and delight. Performances are made possible in part by a
grant from the City of Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program Fund with
support from Sony Pictures Entertainment.